For a future astronaut, Space Camp USA in Huntsville, Ala., is out of this world. Where else can earthlings ages 9-99 bounce around in a 1/6th gravity chair - which makes you feel as if you're walking on the moon, in 16% of the Earth's gravity - or experience what it's like to tumble down during re-entry to Earth in a multi-axis trainer?

Space Camp has long been famous in the minds of youngsters as the coveted prize in Nickelodeon game shows, science contests and cereal box giveaways. Those lucky enough to visit NASA's U.S. Space & Rocket Center get a glimpse of what life is like in space.

"Here at Space Camp, these kids get to explore what it's like to be on a space mission and solve problems just like the astronauts do," the center's CEO, Deborah Barnhart, says. "We make it as real for them as we can."

While some leave with dreams of sailing into the stars as their generation's astronauts, the goal of the camp is to excite campers about math and science with hands-on education - like simulated intergalactic missions and rocket construction.

And it works. "I want to be a forensic scientist," says Lillian Kowatch, 9, as she bounces up and down, waiting for her chance to go on one of the rides.

Kids her age keep busy climbing the tallest mountain on the Red Planet with the Mars Climbing Wall and designing a future city on another planet. Meanwhile, high-schoolers hang out underwater, shooting hoops with bowling balls on the bottom of a 24-foot-deep scuba tank.

"It changes their lives. When a kid comes up to you at the end of the week, you can really see how their attitudes change about space, science and engineering," says Nathan Carter, 25, who has worked at the camp for three years. "To see them light up when they feel like an astronaut - there is no feeling like it."

For those who can't get to Space Camp, National Geographic is jumping in with an attempt to rejuvenate an interest in science with a relaunch of Carl Sagan's Cosmos premiering March 9.

"The dreams of a generation or two before have kind of been downsized," says Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan, who is directing and producing the new Cosmos series. "It's a lot more about shopping lately than it is about going to the stars. It's time to get going again. I feel there's an appetite."

The folks at Space Camp hope so. As Barnhart says: "You're never too old to go to Space Camp."